When dogs fly

A weekend at the mall is no fun for me. I prefer to go to the mall on days when people are fewer and traffic is light. But when anything dog is playing at mall as the main event for the weekend, there are no excuses. It’s off to the mall for me.

Just like last Sunday when the fun Alpo Frisbee Challenge was held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall. The Frisbee challenge is in its third year, and Alpo, manufactured by Nestle Purina, is the dog food brand that supports the Frisbee competition.

The last two years saw the Alpo Frisbee Challenge conquer Boracay. This year, Alpo not only chose to hold the summer fun event at SM Mall of Asia, they also chose to hook up with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) as the organizer of the event.

The main event started at 4 p.m., but the crowds gathered as early as 1 p.m. to watch a cute Doggie Fashion Face Off competition.  And we all know how Pinoys love to dress up their dogs and let them walk the dog walk.

The kids had a fun day, too.  A booth was set up for dog-themed face painting where they enjoyed being transformed into Dalmatians, Pugs, Labradors and other breeds of their fancy. There were games for dogs and their guardians like the “Alpo Lamb Kibble Count,” “Sit, Spot, Sit” and a “Dog Relay.”

The lucky canine guests were able to bite into the luscious addition to the Alpo meaty menu — the new Alpo Lamb.

PAWS made sure that there was time for a short talk on responsible pet ownership given by Anna Cabrera, PAWS program director. Anna emphasized the lifelong commitment involved in getting a pet and the basic requirements for responsible pet ownership. She encouraged people in the audience that were looking for pets to consider adopting one from the PAWS’ Animal Shelter.

The “Doggie Fashion Face Off” was also a big hit with 33 dogs strutting their costumes on the catwalk. Runaway favorite was Mondex, a Chihuahua decked in full scuba diving gear.

By 4 p.m., the crowd was restless and so were the doggy contestants of the Frisbee challenge. The much-awaited first elimination leg of the Alpo Frisbee Challenge was the main event of the day. People cheered as the dog and guardian tandems showed off their Frisbee throwing (for the human and catching for the canine) skills. 

Erick Kim and his Labrador Julie won first place. The pair flew in from Boracay that morning for the competition. Erick was the winner of the first two Frisbee Challenge competitions. Second place went to Lito Barrameda and Kim, a Belgian Malinois, and third place went to Nice Rodriguez and Poypoy, an Aspin (asong Pinoy). The athletic pairs took home trophies, medals, exciting gifts from Alpo plus P15,000, P10,000 and P5,000 respectively.

The Frisbee fever moves on to its second and third elimination legs on May 10 at The Event Center of SM City Clark and on May 17 at Canyon Woods, Tagaytay.

For inquiries on how you and your dog can join, call the Alpo Frisbee Hotline at 0916-6412989.  Proceeds from this event will go to the PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center.